Federal

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA ) is your required application to receive any of the following Federal grants. The FAFSA is subject to deadlines and must be renewed annually.

Federal Pell Grant - designed to be awarded to the neediest of students applying for college across the United States. You may also be eligible for the Pell grant if your parent died while serving on active duty in the U.S. armed forces or as a public safety officer. The amount awarded is directly tied to enrollment status. Residential campus amounts are fixed on the student's end of the drop/add period enrollment status. The online Global campus amount fluctuates up or down throughout the semester as classes are added, withdrawn, or dropped.  More.

Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) - a companion to the Federal Pell Grant and awarded to students with exceptional financial need. More.

Federal Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant - one of the few federal grants that is not dependent on financial need. To notify Southwestern that you are interested in applying for this grant, take Southwestern's TEACH Interest Survey. To gain access to the annual TEACH Agreement to Serve document, you must complete the annual approval steps and be certified by Southwestern. Preview a read- only sample of a TEACH Agreement to Serve on studentaid.gov.  

For immediate approval to receive the grant at Southwestern College, you must be admitted into the teacher education program and maintain the federally required minimum cumulative GPA of 3.25 on a 4.0 scale. Exceptions are made on a case-by-case basis for those students who are not yet admitted to the teacher education program but plan to teach. If you are initially approved as a TEACH grant recipient, you must also complete annual, in-person counseling.

To qualify to keep the grant, you must:

• Agree to teach full-time for at least four years in a high-need field as designated by the Federal Department of Education or by the state government (Teacher Shortage Area Report) where you hope to teach.
• Agree to teach full-time for at least four years in a low-income school or educational service agency.  Low Income School Directory Search

In addition to the FAFSA, the TEACH grant also requires entrance counseling and an annual TEACH Agreement to Serve. More.

Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) - for students who are at least one-fourth American Indian, Eskimo, or Aleut as defined by the Bureau. The amount of the grant is based on financial need and availability of funds from the area agency. Students must submit a BIA application for financial aid and supportive documents. Close contact should be maintained with the BIA agency to insure the student has completed all required documents. A student who is a member of a tribe should also contact the tribal office for any scholarships available. More.

Other Federal Military Benefits - for students who are Veterans of the Armed Forces, students currently serving on Active Duty, their spouses, and their children. More.

Page Reviewed 01/01/2026 - Note Scheduled for Update